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Is it Worth Buying Long-Term Care Insurance?

Long-term care insurance is often touted as a way for aging boomers to protect their assets and to not be a burden on their family if a time comes when they can no longer care for themselves. After all, everything boomers have planned for in retirement could be at risk if, down the road, we need long-term medical care.

But the industry has come under scrutiny as longer life spans and rising premium costs have boomers and lawmakers questioning the viability of private long-term insurance. Just last month, insurance giant Prudential stopped selling individual policies over worries it wouldn't be able to calculate the amount of funds it would need to pay potential claims.

Earlier this month, Sen. Bob Corker, (R-Tenn), called long-term care financing a "major train wreck" that is "heading for a national crisis." Corker, who is the senior Republican on the Senate Aging Committee, added that “there is no doubt there is a public sector role" in the future of financing of long-term care insurance.